Welcome back! Call Vincent now for a FREE quote on your commercial roofing project 215-531-7727

Did you know?   You do now!  The economic stimulus package offers federal tax deductions for commercial buildings.  Yes, your Philadelphia commercial roofing contractor can even offer the occasional tax tip.

A tax deduction of up to $1.80 per square foot is available to owners or designers of new or existing commercial buildings that save at least 50% of the heating and cooling energy of a building that meets ASHRAE Standard 90.1-2001. Partial deductions of up to $.60 per square foot can be taken for measures affecting any one of three building systems: the building envelope, lighting, or heating and cooling systems. The systems must be or have been placed in service from January 1, 2006 through December 31, 2013 to qualify for the federal tax breaks. On October 3, 2008, President Bush signed into law a five-year extension of the deduction through December 31, 2013.   The extension was included in HR 1424, the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008 which passed the Senate on October 1 by a vote of 74-25 and by the House on October 3 by a vote of  263-171.

A full deduction of up to $1.80/sf is available if it can be certified that the combined energy and power costs will be reduced by at least 50 percent. A partial deduction of up to $0.60/sf can be taken for those projects achieving energy improvements that don’t reach the 50% threshold for the full deduction. To qualify, the particular system must be certified to reduce total building energy and power costs by at least 16.67 percent. The deduction is prorated by the amount of reduction between $0.60 and $1.80/sf.

What about Pennsylvania state tax benefits?

In addition to potential tax benefits for building new or upgrading existing building which exist in our state, the commonwealth’s new, $25 million High Performance Building program will provide grants and loans to families and businesses constructing or renovating buildings that meet standards that measure a building’s overall sustainability. The program’s guidelines were approved just this week by the Commonwealth Financing Authority, a great incentive for commercial roofing projects in the Philadelphia area.

Funds are available to anyone building or renovating a primary residence and to businesses with 100 or fewer full-time employees.

Loans of up to $2 million are available for small businesses; the maximum loan for an individual residential project is $100,000. Grants are not to exceed $500,000, or 10 percent, of total eligible costs, whichever is less. Applicants may apply for a grant or a loan, but not both.

The CFA also may provide loan guarantees not to exceed $2 million for a business and $100,000 for an individual.

Applicants may use the funds to acquire the land, buildings, rights-of-way and easements that are necessary to build an eligible project; to clear and prepare land; for planning, designing, modeling or consulting services; to register and certify the project with the U.S. Green Building Council; or for construction and renovation.

Costs incurred prior to the approval of a project are ineligible.